


Shared Space

by Mortimer_Dead_Sea



Series: Fuck Stephen King: Mort Goes Apeshit Over IT [2]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: All the time always, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), And then married adults thinking about it, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, First Kisses, For the first bit, For the second bit, Fuck Stephen King, Internalized Homophobia, Just awkward kids sharing a first kiss, M/M, Married Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, my canon now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-16 13:57:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20832650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mortimer_Dead_Sea/pseuds/Mortimer_Dead_Sea
Summary: "Eddie’s head whipped towards him, eyebrows furrowed, mouth agape. He looked confused, horrified, unbelieving, and maybe a little indignant. Richie’s heart rate skyrocketed, feeling sweat form on his palms and the back of his neck. He made a mistake, he made a huge mistake.'What?' Eddie asked.'Nothing,' Richie said immediately.'No, not nothing,' Eddie said. 'Did you just suggest we kiss?'Richie winced. There was no getting out of this one. 'Uh… Yeah.'"Richie and Eddie share their first kiss as kids. Then they reflect on it as adults.





	Shared Space

**Author's Note:**

> Behold, the IT fanfic I said I wouldn't write.
> 
> I told myself I wouldn't write anymore IT fanfiction, but this idea came to me in the dead of night and I couldn't stop myself. My roommate and I have fallen down a joint rabbit hole and I'm ok with that.

Neither of them were entirely sure how they got to this point, and neither of them were entirely sure how to feel about it.

They were all pretty used to Richie’s jokes by now. They were all also very aware of the fact that Richie was overcompensating for… _ something. _ There’s no way he had ever actually had sex before. There wasn’t any shame in it, and the others had no idea why he was so hellbent on people believing he was “drowning in pussy” or however the hell he put it. They never really commented on it though, or at least not with a direct line of questioning.

But to say subtlety was not one of Eddie’s strong suits would be an understatement since they were all pretty sure the word “subtlety” was not a word in Eddie’s vocabulary, and so when Richie had cracked another one of his jokes about fucking Eddie’s mom, Eddie snapped and said, “I know for a fact you’ve never had sex before!”

They were alone right now, everyone else having gone home. Neither of them really wanted to go home yet, and so they were staying out as long as they could. They were sitting at the quarry and the sun would be setting soon.

“And how do you know?” Richie asked.

“Because I know that nobody in their right mind would have sex with you,” Eddie said.

Richie glared at him. “Well, I know you haven’t either.”

“And I’m not planning to,” Eddie attested. “You know how much disease can be swapped during sex?”

“That’s why you buy shit like condoms!” Richie yelled back. Eddie groaned.

“If that’s what you’re worried about, you’ve probably never even kissed someone before,” Richie added.

“Oh, and I’m sure you have,” Eddie said, tone drenched in sarcasm.

A silence fell over them, not looking at each other anymore. They were sitting side by side, shoulders resting against each other. They were not strangers to sharing space with each other; whenever Richie refused to give up the hammock, Eddie would just get in with him. Originally, they would argue over who got to use the hammock before Eddie would get in. There were no more arguments now. Now Eddie would just get in with him so that their legs tangled together. Then there was the time Eddie had wanted to see what Richie found so funny in his comic book and climbed in so that they were side by side, curled into each other. Eddie had expected Richie to put up more of a fight, but he had merely glared at Eddie weakly before scooting over as much as he could so that Eddie could climb in. After that, there wasn’t much point to getting upset over physical contact with each other, and it was easy for them to just fall into each other, bodies resting against each other to prop themselves up.

This was the part where they weren’t sure how they got here. Richie wasn’t sure what possessed him to say this, what exactly caused him to turn his gaze towards his long-term crush, the feelings that he was desperately trying to push down under layers and layers of suppression and say, “We could change that right now.”

Eddie’s head whipped towards him, eyebrows furrowed, mouth agape. He looked confused, horrified, unbelieving, and maybe a little indignant. Richie’s heart rate skyrocketed, feeling sweat form on his palms and the back of his neck. He made a mistake, he made a _ huge _ mistake.

“What?” Eddie asked.

“Nothing,” Richie said immediately.

“No, not _ nothing,” _ Eddie said. “Did you just suggest we kiss?”

Richie winced. There was no getting out of this one. “Uh… Yeah.”

Eddie looked shocked. “As if I would kiss you without you brushing your teeth.”

Richie’s draw dropped. _ “That’s _ your problem with it?”

“Of course!” Eddie said. “I’ve been with you all day, I know what you’ve been eating.”

“I’ve been eating the same food as you! And I don’t exactly have a way of brushing my teeth,” Richie replied, just a little scathing. “Unless you want me to use the quarry water.”

Eddie’s face scrunched up in disgust. _ “No.” _ He started rummaging around in his fanny pack and pulled out a small bottle. It looked like a pill bottle, but it was white and opaque, unlike the clear orange of Eddie’s other bottles. He opened it and extended it to Richie. “Eat a mint.”

Richie rolled his eyes, wondering why it was fucking _ Eddie Kaspbrak _ of all people that he had a crush on. But he took one anyway and popped it in his mouth, quickly chewing and swallowing it. “There. I’ve eaten one of your dumb mints.”

“That’ll have to do.”

“Do for _ what?” _

Eddie looked like the epitome of exasperation. “To _ kiss, _ you idiot. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Richie’s jaw dropped again. _ “What?” _

“What do you mean ‘what’, it was your suggestion!” Eddie yelled.

“I didn’t think you’d go for it!” Richie yelled back.

“Well!” Eddie sighed, a lot of the aggression draining out of him with it. “Do you want to or not?”

Richie paused, and then in a very quiet voice said, “If you want to.”

Without another word, Eddie began to shift so that they could face each other. Richie did the same, and then they were sitting across from each other criss-cross applesauce, the tips of their knees pressed together. They both kept casting glances at each other before looking away, startling whenever they made eye contact.

“Well now what?” Richie finally asked.

“I don’t know,” Eddie muttered. He didn’t sound upset. His voice was just as quiet. “This was your idea.”

Richie finally fully looked at Eddie, breath hitching when he saw Eddie looking back at him. He began to tentatively reach out to him, and when his fingertips brushed over Eddie’s cheek, Eddie leaned towards them ever slightly. Richie’s heart stuttered, and he flattened his palm against Eddie’s cheek. He then reached out his other hand to rest against Eddie’s other cheek, cupping his face before tentatively leaning in. Eddie leaned in turn, and they rested their foreheads together, their eyes still open. Then Richie began to tilt his head and push forwards, his eyes slipping shut as their mouths met. Their aim was a little off, but they adjusted easily enough, and Richie felt Eddie’s hands rest on his shoulders. The kiss wasn’t much, just a soft and hesitant press of lips that lasted a couple seconds before they pulled away.

They stared at each other, their hands still on each other. It felt kind of like the world had stopped, and Eddie was currently cast in the glow of the sunset with a bit of a shocked and adorable look on his face, and Richie felt his feelings bubbling up to the surface, changing and morphing, and it was terrifying because Richie _ knew _ what it was, he _ knew _ what to call it, and he both wanted and didn’t want it at the same time. It was the most confusing feeling Richie had ever experienced and he had to do _ something _ about it.

So he said, “Not quite as good as your mom, but with some practice, I think you’d be pretty good.”

Eddie’s face immediately scrunched up and he thumped Richie over the head.

_ “Ow!” _

“You deserved that.” Eddie stood and grabbed his bike. “Come on, it’s getting late."

Richie stood and grabbed his bike in turn and they pushed their bikes back through the woods and then climbed on them as soon as they were back in the street. They rode home in silence, splitting off when it was time, and then Richie went home to a mostly quiet house. His parents were asleep by now, and he crept up into his room and flopped down on his bed. He put his hands over his face and groaned.

Thoughts swirled in his head and emotions warred for coveted space in his heart.

For one night, before he finally fell into a restless sleep, he allowed himself to be in love with Eddie Kaspbrak.

\----

“Do you remember our first kiss?”

Eddie looked up from his book to where his husband was standing in the doorway of their bedroom.

“Which one?” he asked.

Richie supposed that was a fair question. When people asked them about their first kiss, they tended to describe the one they had on their first date when they were college students. Awkward. Hesitant. They left out the part where it felt familiar.

Their actual first kiss, the one they shared at the quarry. That one they kept to themselves. Just as awkward, just as hesitant, both of them too terrified to admit their real feelings, even to themselves.

“The one at the quarry,” Richie said.

Eddie fixed him with a look. “The one where you compared me to my mom?”

“Also known as the one where you made me eat a mint,” Richie fired back.

“I made you eat a mint on our first date, too.”

“You’re only roasting yourself, Eds.”

Eddie gave an exaggerated sigh. Richie grinned.

“And either way,” Richie continued. “I only said that because I was terrified of you realizing I had a crush on you.”

Eddie looked at Richie for a moment before he set his book down and gestured for Richie to sit next to him on the bed. Richie immediately moved forward, not even thinking about it as he sat down. He wondered for a moment if this is how Eddie started to feel when he would just get on the hammock with Richie when they were kids, just climbing in without a second thought, knowing Richie would not object.

They rested against each other, shoulders and legs pressed together, and Richie was taken back to that day at the quarry. He didn’t know what it was about today that made him think about it so much, but every once in a while, he would be hit with memories, and today was just one of those days.

“Well at least we don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Eddie said, lacing their fingers together.

His voice was soft, softer than it normally was. It was the kind of soft it got just in moments like these, when their emotions were beginning to choke them with lumps in their throats. Richie knew they were both recalling years of suppression, of threats from school bullies, of late nights climbing into each other’s rooms so they could hold each other through the night when things became too much, hiding under beds and in closets when parents knocked on doors.

But that was over now. They had left their families, left Derry behind, had careers they were happy with, and they had each other and the rest of the Losers Club all grown up and happy in their own lives. They could remember the happiness from their dates, and late night talks, the feeling of being held during the night, and their tiny wedding of just their tiny friend group that they wouldn’t trade for anything.

So Richie just nodded, squeezed Eddie’s hand, and in an equally soft voice said, “Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> By the way, I have a twitter now: @mortimerdeadsea  
It's kind of empty currently, but that will hopefully change soon. I might tweet about when I post things? Not sure yet.


End file.
